Tarun Tejpal's bail plea rejected by court

Tehelka co-founder Tarun Tejpal, who has been accused of sexually assaulting a junior colleague in November last year, was denied bail by the Goa bench of Bombay high court on Friday.

This comes even as another court in Goa granted Tejpal permission to meet his ailing mother earlier in the day.

At the time of pronouncing the order in court, the grounds for denying bail were not specified. This will become available once the detailed order comes in.

The matter, which was argued in-camera before justice UV Bakre for three days, had been kept for orders on Friday.

Tejpal's lawyers didn't respond to questions whether they would be appealing against the order, stating in the immediate aftermath of its pronouncement that they were yet to see the copy.

The prosecution had stated in its reply to the court before arguments began and had opposed Tejpal's bail on several grounds.

These included his power to influence witnesses and hamper the investigation, his alleged intimidation of the investigating officer on an earlier occasion, his alleged possession and use of a cellphone in prison and the fact that the charges against him were serious and well-founded.

On February 17, the Goa police had filed its chargesheet against Tejpal, charging him with raping and sexually assaulting a junior colleague during a festival organised by Tehelka.

The 50-year-old founder of the news magazine has already spent over three months in police and judicial custody since his arrest November 30, 2013, when he was first denied anticipatory bail in the Panaji sessions court.

He was later denied bail in the sessions court on January 15, after which he moved the Bombay high court in February.

The junior colleague had accused Tejpal of rape during ThinkFest which was attended by Hollywood star Robert de Niro.

She claimed that she was sexually assaulted twice on November 7 and November 8.